Options: abnormal psychology
Options: abnormal psychology
The abnormal psychology option examines how disorders are diagnosed, explained and treated. Questions test classification and diagnosis, etiology, prevalence and treatment, and require you to weigh biological, cognitive and sociocultural explanations.
Core rules and concepts
- Diagnosis: DSM-5 and ICD-11; reliability (consistency) and validity (accuracy) of diagnosis; cultural and gender bias in criteria.
- Etiology of depression: genetic and neurotransmitter accounts (serotonin hypothesis), Beck's negative cognitive triad, and sociocultural factors such as poverty and stress.
- Prevalence: epidemiological methods; comorbidity complicates estimates; reporting rates depend on definitions and samples.
- Treatment: biomedical (SSRIs) versus psychological (CBT); evaluate effectiveness, side effects, relapse and ethics.
- Ethical issues: informed consent, stigmatisation, and the medicalisation of normal experience.
Worked example
Evaluate the serotonin hypothesis of depression. Reasoning: SSRIs increase serotonin and often reduce symptoms, which is consistent with the hypothesis. But correlation is not causation; depletion studies have produced inconsistent results; publication bias may inflate apparent support; and cognitive and social factors also predict depression. A strong answer therefore concludes that serotonin is involved but is not a complete explanation, and it uses methodological evaluation to justify that conclusion rather than simply listing studies.
Traps that cost marks
- Describing one study and calling it an evaluation.
- Confusing reliability of diagnosis with validity.
- Ignoring cultural and gender bias in prevalence figures.
- Presenting SSRIs as a cure rather than a treatment with limitations.
- Forgetting ethical issues in treatment or diagnosis.